By Khushwant Singh / Hindustan Times As I read Fali Nariman’s memoirs Before Memory Fades, an autobiography (Hay House), I kept thinking about Nani Palkiwala who I had the privilege of befriending during my years in Bombay. Both men were Parsis from the middle class families with modest means. Both rose to the top of… Continue reading Nariman Point: Never Concede On Principles
Category: Books
Fali’s enduring life
Its authors sought to dismiss the June 1975 Emergency as an event of no consequence in four famous words: “not a dog barked”. The bench and the bar, which are regarded as the fair and fearless custodians of the fundamental rights of citizens were ridiculed as spineless. Coincidentally, on the 35th anniversary of the Emergency… Continue reading Fali’s enduring life
Fali Nariman: Mea Culpa And Other Stories
Three Zoroastrians (Parsis) have dominated our jurisprudence through the last four decades: Nani Palkhivala, Soli Sorabjee and Fali Nariman. Fali Nariman lets memory strike its own patchwork path, and presents his final case on the Bhopal tragedy By Mani Shankar Aiyar / Outlook India This is of a piece with what this community, given refuge… Continue reading Fali Nariman: Mea Culpa And Other Stories
Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani
“Death and time are like two clowns,” Shapur Irani, the patriarch of Dahanu Road, tells his grandson, Zairos. “They play pranks only they find funny.” By Kate Wallace / Telegraph-Journal It’s true. Besides the leavening effect of the antics of Aspi Irani, Shapur’s son and Zairos’ father, there’s not much humour in Anosh Irani’s heavy-hearted… Continue reading Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani
Ardashir Vakil: Having the write stuff
You don’t become an award-winning author without having a flair for words, and London-based Ardashir Vakil is certainly a good example of that. His impeccable sentences, tinged with the lilting accent that reveals his Mumbai origins, sound like they are plucked from a book. Not surprising, as words and sentences are kind of an obsession… Continue reading Ardashir Vakil: Having the write stuff
Alice in Bhuleshwar: Kaiwan Mehta
A book review of Alice in Bhuleshwar: Navigating A Mumbai Neighbourhood by Kaiwan Mehta While wandering through the streets of Mumbai’s old town, Kaiwan Mehta comes across a Venetian-style bust of a 19th century Bombay ‘merchant prince’ atop the Swadeshi Market along Kalbadevi Road. A few streets way, he discovers a Jain temple, one side… Continue reading Alice in Bhuleshwar: Kaiwan Mehta
Parsi Author Murzban Shroff uses word “Ghati” and lands in court
Use of the word ‘ghati’ in his book Breathless in Bombay has landed first-time author Murzban Shroff in trouble, with an activist claiming that it “lowers the reputation and image of Maharashtrians in the eyes of non-Maharashtrians”. While 47-year-old Shroff, a Mumbai-born Parsi, maintains that the term is not aimed against any community, activist Vijay… Continue reading Parsi Author Murzban Shroff uses word “Ghati” and lands in court
